Change is hard: The deeper meaning of two crises

Two articles that I'm confident drew reasonably little statewide attention caught my interest last week. One has a lesson in how difficult it is for all of us to change habits, especially when it comes to the incomprehensible (to me) desire to have green lawns in areas that are virtually deserts. The second raises real questions about how little oversight there is on the potential impact of proposals surrounding the state budget. Both are superficially about water, but really are about the need for changing how we do things.

Story 1: All Wet

The mayor of San Diego last week declared a water shortage emergency "and he's asking residents to voluntarily conserve or face mandatory curbs.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday on the so-called Stage 1 water shortage emergency. The council's Natural Resources and Culture Committee will hold hearings in September to consider mandatory cutbacks."

The mayor tried this five months ago and got a reasonably good response, but:

[Mayor Jerry] Sanders says San Diego's water use dropped by 7 percent after he initially called for voluntary conservation in February, but consumption has now returned to previous levels.

I'm ordering the pebbles and cacti to replace my lawn.

Story 2: Total Recall?

The second piece comes from a muckraking online (and print) newsletter called "CounterPunch" that says of itself, "we have many friends and all the right enemies."

CounterPunch is based in California and run by veteran investigative reporter Alexander Cockburn. "Twice a month we bring our readers the stories that the corporate press never prints," the website says. So, now you understand the context for Dan Bacher's piece this week, "Slashing Salaries, While Pimping for a $9.3 Billion Water Bond: Schwarzengger's Water Empire."

"If there ever was a governor that really needed to be recalled, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger," Bacher concludes. He continues:

The same Governor who is slashing state worker salaries last week spoke at a Capitol rally touting the ‘benefits' of a $9.3 billion ‘compromise' water bond sponsored by him and Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The proposal, opposed by a coalition of fishing groups, Indian Tribes, conservation organizations and Delta residents, includes two new dams and a peripheral canal. The bond would build the infrastructure to export more even more water out of the Delta, further imperiling collapsing salmon and other fish populations.

Ever see "Chinatown," Mrs. Mulray?

"On Schwarzenegger's watch, Central Valley king salmon have collapsed to the lowest recorded population level, due to the governor's zeal in increasing water exports to his buddies in corporate agribusiness."

OK, so it's not really "Chinatown," but it's about water and about alleged corruption and, like in the movie, little in Sacramento is really what it appears to be.

Bacher's piece presents a perspective -- a broadening one holding that Schwarzenegger plays to and for special interests -- that is definitely not a corporate take and that adds value to the debate regarding what government should do and whether it's working in your interests.